Interactive windowing systems are well known and used in most types of prior art computer devices that are connected to a screen. A windowing system provides the user with easy means to perceive overview and interact with information, applications and services available in the computer device or through a computer network connected to the device.
The human ability to correctly interpret graphical information is highly connected to the size, resolution or recognition of typical graphical properties of the information. These limits become particularly evident on small sized screens. This restricts the ability to display large amount of information simultaneously on such screens. A common solution in the prior art is to split the information into suitable segments, displaying the segments sequentially or side by side in a window. A common property of such system is the scrollbar allowing the user to scroll the window horizontally and vertically providing viewing of all the information comprised in the window.
The main group of computer devices connected to small screens are cellular phones, including phones with extended data functionality, smart phones. Another large group of devices are personal digital assistants (PDA), integrated with cellular phones sometimes. A last group of devices contains other devices such as embedded systems, toys, clocks, jewelry etc.
The prior art presentation and interaction schemes for small screens, connected to cellular phones or similar devices, are mainly based on three different approaches:                1. Each task occupies the entire screen, and elements of information are displayed one at a time. For example, reading or typing an SMS (Short messaging system) message, using a web browser or playing a game.        2. Another prior art solution is to allow several indicators to be displayed simultaneously, providing continuous updates of the state of selected processes. For example, indicators in cellular phones indicating battery charging levels and signal strengths.        3. A hierarchical menu system is normally used to allow the user to navigate and select among the different actions and choices to be made in a cellular phone. The menus are navigated by means of arrow keys or other designated keys. Sometimes the menu system is displayed as a two-dimensional grid of icons, allowing the user to navigate four ways rather than two ways. For such systems it is common to use sensors in the screen sensing geometrical location information from a force applied at a certain point on the screen, for example by pushing a stylus on the screen, thereby allowing the selection of an icon or a menu. PDAs normally come equipped with a stylus (a pen-formed artefact) to push or draw on the surface of the screen.        
Existing windowing systems provides textual input normally by selecting a window and often a window component such as a text box, a dropdown list, a check box etc. to receive the input, for example from an attached keyboard to the computer device. When a component is selected the user can enter text or other input through said keyboard, a mouse, a stylus, a soft keyboard etc. connected to the computer device, where the text is displayed in the selected component.
In mobile phones, the prior art technique typically either use the techniques described for windowing systems above, or they display only a component that can receive input one at a time, sending any input to that component.
The approaches described above limits the numbers of applications a user can activate to one at a time. It is also difficult for a user to add new graphical icons or new indicators to the device. Further, it is not possible to prioritise indictors, allowing more interesting events to be signalled more clearly than less interesting events.
Another problem with indicators and menu systems in the prior art is that items is only displayed in two meaningful sizes, the symbol as a menu item or icon size and the full screen size. The window itself can often be scaled, but very few applications adapt to the scaling and display meaningful information in scaled windows. The normal scheme is to let the edges of the window cut the information to be displayed, leaving some information still visible while other information is hidden. Normally, a scrollbar is displayed and arranged to allow the user to scroll between the different sections of information. The solution makes it difficult to get a view of the total state of the system and to identify what is currently the most important element.
Another problem with the prior art solutions, which also is present when using touch sensitive screens, is the large number of menu items, resulting in a large menu hierarchy, which can be hard to navigate for the user. A large hierarchy of menus also forces the user to perform several actions to activate an application or to change the state of the system. It further becomes difficult to overview the set of possible actions and choices to be made.
Another problem with the prior art solutions is the need to select a specific component to receive input. If input is to be entered into several components, the user must either select one by one of several visible receiving elements, or step forward and backwards between elements if only one is displayed at a time. The user is forced to spend time finding and selecting the correct components for the input, and makes it hard for the user to keep an overview of the total of input given. Furthermore it forces the user to select the correct component to receive the input before giving the input itself, forcing the user to remember the input until the component is selected.
Another problem with prior art is that it attempts to give each window as much of the available screen space as possible. In this way, the screen is always full of windows, even if there is no important information to convey to the user.
Another problem with prior art is the limited functionality of the sizing and placement mechanisms. Windows are normally placed in a simple geometric pattern, giving no or limited support for user placement of windows, windows not being rectangle or windows with different geometric shapes.
Another problem with prior art with automatic window placement is that windows placed by the user is later moved by the windowing system. As a result it is often difficult for the user to find the window.
Several systems has been developed trying to overcome the shortcomings in the prior art. One such system is the GetRight application from Headlight Software. GetRight is a file downloading tool, and is able to display itself meaningfully as a window, as a part of the task bar in a Microsoft Windows System and as an indicator on the screen.
The patent application WO 02/37209 by Affymetrix Inc describes the hardware and software for a user interface where windows are coupled to each other. The user interface is especially suitable for graphically displaying the data from analysis of biological samples.
The patent application WO 02/33576 by Park describes a method and an apparatus to produce a divided object window for a internet connected device or terminal, especially suitable for e-mail, internet advertising and similar applications, controlled by environment parameters for the object window as well as pre stored information about the window from one or several databases.
The patent application WO 03/014905 by Danger Research Inc describes a method and a system for a computer screen, focussing on user interaction regarding Instant Messaging (IM), (ICQ) messaging systems and similar messaging systems. By using this system several IM messages can be displayed and controlled simultaneously by the user through starting a first IM window where other messages are displayed as indicators.
The patent application US 2001/0047626 A1 by Akira Ohkado describes a method for controlling a window in a windowing system. By using the method, the size of windows is changed from a first size to a second size on the basis of the information contained in the window.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,498 by International Business Machines Corporation describes a system and a method for automatic arrangement of windows in a display apparatus. The method includes a managing and calculating method to arrange windows making it easier to select an active window.